Red Dawn
by Alazia
Summary: Voldemort is taking control, fear and hate taking over the hearts of the Wizard World. James Potter was completely sure, love for him was no longer an option; death and revenge were the only way to redemption. Lily disagreed; she knew there was still hope for him and for the rest of them, she knew there was light at the end of the road. She just needed a way to show them.


Hey there you guys, I have found my way back to ffnet after years of being a silent reader, for some reason I keep coming back to my OTP's and looking for new stuff to read and I guess that's how this story was born. I haven't been writing lately, fiction I mean, so I figure why not give it a shot, and since this story found its way to my head and wouldn't leave it alone, figure all I could do was to sit down and write it out. What I'm planning with this story is to explore certain things that I feel were left unresolved on the books, since the main focus was the story of Harry's adventures, and myself being a Marauder kinda gal, I feel like there's need to explore more into the relationship between Lily and her sister, the final year of Harry's parents, the raising of Voldemort and so on, and that's what I want to do.

That's the basic outline I guess, also pretty please keep in mind that English is not precisely my first language, so any grammar mistakes are on me. also for the propose of this story some minor things/events are going to be time traveling.. hehe.

Disclaimer: nothing is mine; all characters belong to an already rich woman that sometimes goes by Robert Galbraith for unknown reasons (she is so cool she doesn't want to be recognized)

Hope you enjoy the reading!

* * *

**PROLOGUE**

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**July 5****th ****1976, Derbyshire, East Midlands England. **

It was roughly 2 in the morning but James Potter couldn't find himself to calm his mind and allow his body to sleep. It had been three days since he heard anything about the infamous Sirius Black, his best mate and partner in crime. He had sent letters to both Remus and Peter asking if they knew anything about their missing friend, both answered they hadn't heard from him since they came back from Hogwarts a couple of weeks ago. _Where the fuck are you Padfoot_.

He was sitting against the headboard only wearing a pair of black cotton shorts, his mom had enchanted the whole house to resemblance as much summer heat as England would ever get, thus leaving all of the members of the household feeling like inside of a hot pan. On top of that, he felt poorly, like coming down with something. Maybe it was a mixed of the annoyance he experience for the lack of communication with his friend or the worry he refused to acknowledge he was drowning in, along with the major headache he suffered, the reasons that wouldn't let his mind clam down enough to go to sleep. _When I find that dog, he is going to pay for having me worry like a freaking mother_. He caught on the fact that at some point it had started raining outside. _So much for summer weather. _

He went over the facts Sirius mentioned to him three days ago; _again, _trying to figure out if there was any detail that had escape his consideration and therefore, was key to find his friend's whereabouts. On July 2nd Regulus started a war against Sirius over Muggle's rights, by dinnertime it had evolved into a major family crisis ending with a long speech, courtesy of the only Walburga Black, on the filthiness of witches and wizards born from non-magical families. Along with that came a threat for Sirius to either subdue to the cause, or just _leave_. Subsequently, the oldest of Walburgas's sons proceed and hexed his mother, provoking the anger of both his father and brother, whose curses didn't reach him because he was already half way out the door.

James closed his eyes annoyed, Sirius may have been right by standing up to his family the way he did; they were, after all, sympathizers to Voldemort's cause, and avid haters of anything that didn't belong in the Pure Blood community. However, he believe he knew his friend better than anyone, and because of that, he had a feeling that Sirius didn't even tell him half of what had really happened on his house that night. He looked at the clock, 2:45 AM- and he was so awake it was ridiculous. A loud bang on the main door of his house startled him and brought him back to reality; adrenaline running through his veins: it was late, it was dark and there was a war rising. The Potter hadn't made an _official_ statement on the whole 'Voldemort' cause, they didn't approved at all, but they needed to be smart about it and play their cards right.

Another loud knock- he heard his parents going down the stairs, he grabbed his wand and hurried himself to catch up with them. At the front door they were, both held their wands firmly, both stood tall and brave. James looked at them, he felt a sense of pride fill him, those were his parents, and they were willing to fight for what they believed in, no matter the consequences.

"James…" his dad said cautiously, warning him. With a nod, he opened the door and aimed his wand, next to his wife and son, to the intruder. A breeze blew in, as the three wizards looked at the soaking wet young boy looking back at them.

"Sirius Black?! What on Merlin's beards are you doing outside at this time of the night and raining nonetheless! Come on in before you catch something, dear!". Dorea exclaimed worriedly as she closed the door behind the boy. Sirius Black stood on the entrance of the Potter mansion, looking as he had run into a storm and then some.

James looked furiously at his friend "You fucking git! I've been worried sick you prat, where have you been?!" he demanded. His dad summoned towels so Sirius could dry himself; he was quiet, choosing not to address James's questions. Dorea glanced at the boy once again, he looked cold and sullen, she doubted he had eaten anything that day. _You poor thing._ She hugged Sirius as she helped him dry his hair, and looked at her son firmly "Honey, you can yell at Sirius all you want tomorrow," she emphasized "but for now, please help him get settle while I ask Aly to prepare some supper".

James looked like he didn't like the idea completely, but he motioned Sirius to follow him upstairs, he waited until his friend was out of sight. Her turned back to his parents. "He is staying here now".

At the bottom of the stairs, they were hugging affectingly, his dad smiled; he got what his son was implying. "Of course he is son, he is family." James nodded. _Yes, family._

* * *

**August 14****th**** 1976, Cokeworth, Northern England. **

"Lily honey, Darcy is here with a letter!" Rose Evans yelled from the bottom of the stairs, she heard a muffled "c'ming mum!" from her daughter's room, she smile to herself, that Lily of hers. She went back to the kitchen and checked on the oven, the lamb looked tender and slightly grilled cooked over potatoes and onions, one of Lily's favorites. She glance at the clock hanging from the wall opposite to the oven, six past ten, her husband should be just in time for dinner. She smiled happily.

Lily Evans groaned as she rolled on to the other side of her bed, why couldn't she just enjoy an afternoon nap without disturbances? She hid herself underneath her cover, trying to go back to sleep, even though she knew beforehand she was going to fail miserably. Another groan. _So much for lazing around. _She slipped off her bed, feeling sleepy but rested, and headed for the bathroom to throw some cold water on her face. As she did so, a large mirror reflected the image of a beautiful sixteen year-old girl with long deep red hair, that hung with messy curls past down her shoulders. Her eyes were the most stunning shade of green with only a few glimpses of brown, framed by a dark ring that faded into the pupil, giving her stare both the softness and determination that characterized her. Her skin, fair by nature, looked flushed after her lovely nap. Lily leaned on the counter some more until her nose almost touched the mirror, her brows grew closer as she exanimated her freckles, for some reason hers always looked a little faded, nothing like the bloody models she saw on magazines.

"Seriously Lily, you can look yourself in the mirror the whole day and nothing would change, you'd still be a redheaded freak" Said girl looked over angrily at her sister, she was putting on her usual amount of make up next to her. Lots of foundation and blusher, combine with heavy black eyeliner to make her eyes pop. Lily looked at Petunia, she was an ordinary girl, she didn't thought of that as a bad thing though, Merlin knew all the times she wished she was a little more ordinary herself, bright red hair and green eyes made quite a statement whether she liked it or not. On the contrary, her sister's fair skin and blonde hair where just _normal_, nothing that would make a stranger stop to stare at her on the streets. The only resemblance between the two Evans was their eyes, they both had stunning green eyes, but that was a far as it went. She looked at the mirror, her features were soft and her skin smooth, she had a natural blush on her fair cheeks, and her eyes, an almond shaped, looked gentle and trusting; whereas Petunia's features were more angular and defined, giving her a sense of natural authority and sharpness that Lily's lacked.

"What do you keep staring prat?" the oldest spatted angrily, turning to look at Lily, who couldn't help but laugh at the sigh of her face with only one brow drawn on. "Sod off you freak!" Petunia yelled as the pushed Lily outside of the small bathroom and slammed the door on her face. "You are the unibrow freak!" she yelled back annoyed at her sister childlike manners.

Remembering the reason she got up out of bed on the first place, she rushed down the stairs. "Mom, I'm here, where's Darcy?" Lily asked her mom as she stormed into the kitchen going directly for the fridge, looking for something to eat; she chuckle mischievously, no way her mom would see her sneaking a slice of cake since she had her back turned on her. "She is in the dinning room, I gave her some water she looked exhausted" Lily grinned as she turned to leave the kitchen "_And_ leave that piece of cake right where you found it dear, dinner will be ready soon" Lily moaned, _so close!_. Her mum's carefree laughter followed her to the other room. Standing on a deep brown armchair stood her owl Darcy, a present for her last birthday from her parents. She was extremely beautiful: white chest covered by vivid earth-colored wings; the resemblance between Lily's red hair and Darcy's wings was unmistakable. The letter she brought was nicely placed on the coffee table, _Thanks Mom, _and judging by the color and the stamp, without a doubt it was from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was odd though; she had already received a letter with her O.W.L results a couple of weeks ago, with four Outstandings out of the six O.W.L's she took, plus two (E) on both Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures. On the same letter came the list of supplies she needed for her sixth year.

Lily ran her hand down Darcy's back, receiving a happy purred in response and looked curiously at the envelope. Ripping the top part open, she took the letter out:

_Dear Miss Lily Evans, _

_I am please to inform you that you have been selected to serve as __Prefect for the Gryffindor House. Due to a personal complication, Miss Allen will not be able to continue with her duty as Prefect for the Gryffindor House, thus leaving me the choice to find another suitable candidate. I hope you consider serving your House with this honor; you have always exhibited the ability to lead your classmates, and the bravery that Gryffindors have long been lauded for. _

_Enclosed please find your Prefects Badge, which should be worn on your school robes at all times._

_Also, congratulations on your O.W.L's results, I will let you know that you scored at the top of your class. You make your house proud for having such a smart and talented young woman. _

_Sincerely, _

_Minerva McGonagall _

_Head of Gryffindor House_

"_**MUM!"**_

* * *

**September 1****st**** , 1976. Platform 9 ¾, King's Cross Station. 10:45 AM.**

"Mary, look who is coming!," Marlene MacKinnon shouted as she run towards a redheaded girl "the one and only new Gryffindor prefect!." Mary laughed at her best friend's antics, she could be so loud and obnoxious sometimes.

Lily stepped aside from her trolley to receive the hug her friend had for her. Marlene, being almost a head taller than Lily, wrapped her arms around her small shoulders squeezing her hard against her chest in a bear-like hug. "Mar, hon I can't breath..." Lily manage to say, feeling like missing having air inside her lungs. Marlene quickly let her go as she placed her hands on both sides of her face excitedly "I knew you were going to be made prefect, I just… I swear I have no idea what where they thinking when they gave the position to that Allen prat, what was so good about her anyway? She was always frowning upon everyone, that git" she said as she made a funny angry face.

"Oh get yourself a life MacKinnon, you hardly even knew the girl" Mary said as she caught up with the loud blonde. Smiling to the redhead standing in front of her she opened her arms for a hug. "I've missed you Lils." Lily smile, she had always like Mary's hugs, they were just like her: warm, reassuring and calming. Quite the contrary to Marlene's excited and passionate ones.

"Oh c'mon MacDonald like you wouldn't think she had the worst brow situation around the castle, so sod off! I'm enjoying our new created monster right here, I bet Dumbledore and MacGonagall had no idea what they have just created!"

Lily sighed, the patience she needed to deal with those two "You guys cut it off, we need to find a compartment" she gestured as she pushed her trolley with an angry Darcy inside of her cage. She wasn't really fond of traveling by train.

Mary and Marlene were just behind her whispering "See, what did I just said? She is here for a couple of minutes and she is giving orders like she owns the place!"

"I heard that" Lily shouted back annoyed.

"You were meant to!."

* * *

As they made their ways to the compartment Marlene had pointed out earlier, Lily smiled as she noticed the familiar feeling, she loved the first ride to Hogwarts, everybody was so excited, people seeing their friends after being apart for months, the scared first years looking either excited or of their minds or terrified… it was just pure happiness.

"Don't you have to go to the prefects compartment up front?" Mary asked

"Yeah, I guess I go there later… but I've missed you guys!, you have to tell me everything about your holidays!" Lily said as she turned around to answer. Marlene was leading the way. "At this rate you will be the coolest Gryffindor prefect ever, missing meeting… I'm sure we can talk something out.. You know, me doing naughty things and you not telling anyone? Marlene said with a smirk.

"Ew Marlene, that's just wrong!" Mary cried.

"Emmeline!" Lily exclaimed happily as opened the door to their compartment and saw her fourth friend. Marlene came forward to warp her long and slim arms around the petite's frame.

"Hey guys…" Mary didn't fail to notice her friend's expression, as she put her stuff on the seat. She looked distracted, even a little bit annoyed.

"Oh… I guess I didn't take MacGonagall much time to replace Linda." Emmeline said quietly.

"What do you mean?" Lily turned around from buttoning her shirt. She preferred to change before the ride started. I was still a tad bit cold inside so she put her robe on.

"It's just… I mean you know have the badge," she said pointing to Lily's robes "and she.. well she just loved being…" Emmeline couldn't finish her sentence, she suppressed a sob. Marlene quickly sat beside her friend and took her hands "Em, what's wrong, why are you crying?."

Mary and Lily were sitting across from them. Emmeline looked devasted, she could not control her sobs and the tears. The train started moving and the girl regained her posture "I'm sorry Lils it's not your fault, Dumbledore and McGonagall needed someone to help Lupin with the prefect duties and it's just … the Allens were killed" she finished rather slow, they could see it was hurt her to say those words.

"Oh my God, Emmeline, Linda?!" Marlene asked, she made fun of the girl sometimes in a good way, but still…

"No, she…, " Emmeline took the handkerchief Mary offered her and offered a small smile in return "she was on holidays with her cousins over in Paris I think. My mother told me the Death Eaters showed at their door late at night trying to recruit them, asking them to join the cause, and Linda's parents…" she paused " .. all of her family was killed, her mother, father and her two little brothers. They didn't even spare the children."

Mary looked confused "But how come it didn't make the Daily Prophet? Something as horrible as that…"

Emmeline sighed exhausted "They are scared Mary, Linda Allen's family… they weren't the only murders this summer, they Prophet can't run all of the stories because it would cause a mass hysteria among the wizards, to they just choose to look over it". She shrugged. Lily stared at her silently.

"Em, I didn't know you were friends with Linda…" Marlene said, almost as an apology. "No… we weren't really friends, my mother was good friends with hers and I knew all of her family, even though we weren't exactly the closest… we still cared about each other" she said looking outside the window, her gaze lost on the moving landscape.

"Come here…" Marlene said gesturing her lap, her friend laid down her head on Marlene's lap ad more tears fell down her face. She run her fingers down her friends hair on a soothing way "I know Em, sweetie, of course you cared about her, I'm so sorry about what happened to her". Lily and Mary sat across from them, watching silently.

* * *

"He came to see my dad." Marlene wasn't looking at anything in particular, her stare lost somewhere in the fields, her gaze getting lost on the window. She ran a hand absentmindedly through Emmeline's locks. "He didn't send his fucking army of gits to my house, but appeared himself one night. Me and my mom were picking up my little sister from my aunt's house, she wanted to travel by flu alone so bad, but my mom wouldn't let her, so we went over there."

"Marlene…" Mary's soft voice tried to reach her. Lily felt her eyes welled up with tears but she couldn't look at her friend. She was scared, for Marlene, for Mary, for Em, for herself. The feeling of hearing bad, horrid, heartbreaking news was something that she would never get used to, seeing someone as strong and confident as Marlene crying, scared. It felt horrible, and something inside of her told her that this was just the beginning, that they hadn't seen the worst of it yet.

"He asked him to join, said that we Pure Bloods should stay together and fight the blood traitors and the people that didn't deserve to be part of our world," Marlene closed her eyes as she continued, failing to keep the tears at bay "He said no. Voldemort could have killed him right there because of his defiance, but he said no."

Mary and Lily looked at each other. The train kept going on a steady pace. Emmeline was asleep. Marlene cried in silence.

* * *

Lily closed the door softly, her friends were sound sleep inside their compartment. Dear God, Marlene… She really didn't understand how had they reached this point, when did Voldemort gained so much power and people that thought and agreed with him. She felt the shivers, why did people like them hated people like her. What was wrong with being different, with not coming from a wizardly family, was she less of a witch because of that?

Lily walked to the front of the train so lost in her own thoughts she didn't notice the person coming the other way, just as oblivious as she was. And then, there wasn't much space between the two: "Wow, eyes on the road much, Evans?." The girl looked up to the boy that had his hands on her shoulders, preventing them from colliding, he looked like he was pleased to see her.

"Potter." She addressed him in a neutral tone, trying not to make eye contact despite their proximity. James sighed, how bloody typical of her. _Is she shorter or it's just me? _"Oh c'mon Evans, it's the start of the year, how about a 'how were your holidays Potter', that would be more like it right?" James smirking. Lily noticed that his typical smile wasn't so arrogant as it was before; in fact, all of his body language indicated otherwise, like he was comfortable and relaxed instead of posing and pretending. Wow, he seemed _changed, _more…_ grown. Yeah, definitely grown, he is like a million inches taller. _However, his hair still looked like he had just being flying for hours on his bloody broom and the same ashy brown, his eyes still were that weird hazel-green color hidden behind his Lennon's style glasses. _Like he would know who __**the**__ Lennon was._ However, his face looked wider, and slightly more angular, as well as the rest of his body, he had filled up over the summer, he was even taller that she remembered. And, wait a second, _was that a growing bear right there?_

Lily sighed, she felt depressed after talking with her friends and besides, it was the beginning of the year and Potter hadn't said anything stupid to her _yet,_ so why the hell no?

"You know what Potter?, just for today and just for now I'm going to humor you: How were your holidays?." James stared at her curiously, maybe she was on _those _days, or maybe Death Eaters had just abducted her and now she was under something strong but Lily Evans was never this … _civilized._

The redhead huffed annoyed "Seriously Potter? I know that face, that's the 'Evans it's not supposed to be this nice to me face'," she pocked his chest, it felt like there was some hard muscle underneath his shirt, "and you know what? I resent that! You don't even know me! The only version of me you _seem_ know it's the one you get when you're being an asshole, and you know why is that? Because that's the only way you behave around me Potter!" she shouted as she turned back and kept trying to walk instead of run to the front part of the train.

"Hey, wait up Evans," James exclaimed as he jogged to catch up. He grabbed her arm so she would stop walking. Lily didn't turned. "I'm sorry, look, I was just taken aback ok?, how about we start again alright?" he said gently.

Lily sighed, this wasn't his fault. She slowly turned and didn't meet his eyes "No Potter, it's … God I'm sorry I jus-," she felt embarrassed at her behavior, she choose to look at a point behind James's right shoulder "I sorry I lashed out at you like that, you were just trying to be friendly and I was a bitch" she offered, and did in fact catch a piece of James's smile.

He let go of her arm and took a step back, "Yeah, you were kind of…" he shrugged.

"Don't push it" Lily shouted rather loudly as she continued her way, opposite to James.

"Right… see you around Evans, oh and congrats on the prefect thing, Remus told me, now you can be a bitch all you want, legally!" James blurted out, not really sure how much more he could push her. He looked at her back, her swinging hips. _Fuck, that skirt._ It drawn to him that this was the first time they had talked, well sort of, without trying to kill each other or being mean and hurtful. He felt a nice feeling in his belly. _Fucking butterflies._

"Shut your mouth you prat!" she shouted back. What James couldn't see was the small smile on Lily's face.

.

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On Merlin's bear…_ WHAT_ had just happened?

* * *

I'm aware that prefects are assigned on their fifth year, but for two reasons I choose to made Lily a prefect on her 6th: There's no proof that Lily and Lupin where prefects together, we assumed that Lily was a prefect before being Head Girl along with James, but contrary to what happens with Lupin, there are no official claims of Lily being a Gryffindor prefect. And secondly, I feel like it's canon so I just made a small adaptation. Oh and also serves my propose for this story ***evil laugh***

So that's all I have for you in this first chapter, originally it was going to be just one chapter but I splited into two so it wouldn't be so long, so the second part should be up soon enough. I hope you enjoy this first glance at the story, I have certainly enchanted myself with the whole Harry Potter world all over again, having read the books many years ago, I have been in need of assistance (HP Lexicon) remembering small details and stuff like that, so for me it has been like falling in love all over again.

So please don't forget to hit the review button so y'all can tell me what you think!

xo,

A.


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